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There Will Be Stars

A story about a life of lies and death that doesn’t bring what we all think will happen, There Will Be Stars by Billy Coffey is a dreamy, somewhat scary, take on life after death, and what Heaven could or should be. This book has character that spoke to me, and the voices with in the pages were so real it was like I was watching a movie.

Bobby Barnes is the town drunk, always has his bottle readily available, and most people believe that that same bottle will be the one that drives him to his grave. Bobby sort of believes the same thing, he knows he’s an alcoholic, but doesn’t really care. He knows that people talk about him, and yet doesn’t care about that much either. Even though he knows his drinking is bad, it doesn’t stop him from taking his children on a trip to the mountains one night. They were just going to go for some fun, and to get away from all the gossip, but since Bobby has one hand on his bottle and one eye on the road, the car ends up totaled and Bobby ends up dead.

This is not where the story ends though. Bobby wakes up in a place that isn’t quite Earth and it’s not Heaven either. He wakes up on the day that he passed away, but it’s not the same day, because there are six other people with him that weren’t with him the first time he lived this day. Now Bobby has to figure out how to get back to his real life, or move on to death. The help of these people is all he has to get to the next stage, and he has to help them as well.

The way that Billy Coffey writes is so genuine and so visual that I can’t help but sink into his words. He fills the pages with characters that come to life and I love every second of it. I can’t really explain it, you just have to pick up one of his books. It’s so weird how you can be mad at Bobby for making such stupid choices, and yet feel for him as he tries to reach his children. This book was incredible, very deep, very surreal and extremely emotional. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars, and I received it from Book Look Bloggers in exchange for an honest review.